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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Our Burlap Forest

Normally at Christmas time there are snow people everywhere in our home. This year I decided on something a little different...just for a change. Oh and by the way.....we still have a few snowmen here and there.

We both love old and rustic stuff, so that was my theme this year. On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby I gathered up a few supplies to make some burlap trees for the mantel.

I made 4 different trees. The first one was the tallest and it was already a cardboard form. I simply wrapped it with burlap ribbon.

Nothing hard are too much to tell, just grab the glue gun set on the lowest setting and glue the beginning of the ribbon to the form. Continue wrapping and gluing all the way to the end.

The smaller trees were Styrofoam forms, not so easy to just wrap and glue. I had to cover them with Kraft cards stock paper first.

Do a test run by just wrapping the paper on the form until you get it the way you need it to cover the form completely.

Again, using the glue gun on the lowest setting, glue the paper to the form. Make sure you get all the edges glued for a smooth base.

Finally, trim the paper down to the size of your form. Save the leftover paper as filler for your larger forms. The 8 1/2 x 11 paper doesn't quite fit the larger forms.

Now that they are all three wrapped, I can get to gluing the ribbon on. NOTE: I know I keep repeating myself about the glue gun and using the lowest setting, but burlap has holes in it and it WILL get on your fingers. The lower setting is safer but still be very careful! Ok, I'm done harping! LOL!

For the smallest tree I used a thin woven ribbon with fringe on both edges. This does not have to be perfect, just wrap and glue as you go. Tuck in and glue as you need to. No two trees will look the same.

For the largest of the smaller trees, I used a wider ribbon with fringe on both sides. This is the same ribbon I used for the really tall tree. I cut little sections about 2 1/2" long and started gluing them on slightly overlapping them as I went along.

Ok, here's the first two all done. Looking so cute! I decided to use some more of my burlap feed sack to make the medium tree.

I just cut up some strips, no certain size, just cut strips, long and short. I started at the bottom and moved my way up to the top overlapping and layering as I went.

Here are the 3 smaller trees. I think they turned out really cute! I was having so much fun that I was kind of sad when I was done with the last one.

Here they all are up on the mantel hanging out with our ruler star we just picked up at an antique mall recently. So cute! I love them!

It doesn't have to be done all at once. It is a slow process in the works!C-ya next time!

Your trees are great, love that they're all so natural and pretty on their own without any embellishments. Things don't have to have too much or any bling to be beautiful. What makes you happy is what matters. I love crafting for myself as well as others. Don't know what I'd do with myself if I couldn't craft. Do you love crafting, creating for part of your happiness? What kind of crafting/creating makes you happiest? I was lucky to find the paper mache cones at Michaels on sale for $1.29 each. Wish I could have bought them all, did buy 5 of them and have used 2 to make my own burlap trees. Happy holidays

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Hey there! Welcome to Clover House! I'm DeeDee and this is my honey, Bobby. Join us for redos and fix ups of our 1980's home. Also, I'll throw in a recipe or a craft from time to time. Enjoy your visit!